


Assumptions

by soapficgal



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 01:54:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5725387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soapficgal/pseuds/soapficgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An old Jack and Janet story I wrote a long time ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Assumptions

“Breakups are the worst--like dealing with a nagging addiction you‘re struggling to get over,” Janet Ciccone could hear her words to Holden Snyder replay in her mind again and again haunting her like a knife digging deeper into her heart with each passing second. At the time she’d said it she was trying to placate Holden and get him to take action about his feelings for Carly, but she’d never actually anticipated that she was about to have to face that same kind of rejection herself. Things with she and Jack had been great until once again Carly happened. Sure, she’d been seeing the signs here and there when Carly’s calls had become more frequent drawing Jack away in the middle of the night. The writing was on the wall when he’d talked about the possibility of her moving off of the farm, but it wasn’t until this afternoon that Janet was convinced that it was finally over.  
  
“No strings Janet,” she heard her own voice promise again in the back of her mind. She could almost kick herself for thinking that she could fall into that kind of relationship with Jack Snyder knowing full what kind of an amazingly charming, wonderful guy he really was. He was fun, sexy, made her laugh and damn it she hated that she was going to miss him. She thought she’d find a way to keep her feelings for him under wraps, but when she got to know him better, she fell harder, faster and sadly deeper than she’d anticipated.  
  
“But he’s in love with his ex,” she reminded herself as she finished wiping the bar down for the night at the diner.   
  
When it came down to it, Janet knew she’d never had a chance. She’s heard the stories, listened to all the gossip about Jack and Carly’s tumultuous relationship, but she’d refused to believe it. She’s tried to hide the jealousy that had been eating away at her, but the more Carly came around, the harder it was to ignore it. Even now Janet could feel it was a matter of time before Jack told her to hit the road and never look back when he settled into his family life with Carly all over again.  
  
“You fell in love and what do you have to show for it Janet?” she questioned to herself pushing her hair out of her face as she tossed the towel she’d been using into the oversized industrial sink. She stepped forward and let out an ironic laugh, “You had a few laughs, had a couple of good memories, but it’s time to move on. You have to get off the farm and find a place to figure things out for a while even if it means leaving Oakdale for a while.”  
  
“I sincerely hope that’s not the case,” she heard a voice call out to her as she turned around to see the man who had haunted her thoughts from the moment she’d witnessed him and his ex-wife caught up in an embrace with one another. Even now the bitter sting rocked her to the core at knowing that she’d lost him. Sure, he hadn’t said it, but the writing was on the wall when Carly was draped all over him earlier in the day.  
  
“Jack,” she spoke his name hoping that the sound of her voice wouldn’t betray her in letting him know that he’d gotten to her.   
  
Despite all her promises about their keeping their relationship as nothing more than friends with benefits, she’d made the fatal mistake of giving him her heart and she feared she‘d never get it back again. Even after all the times she’d thought she’d fallen in love before, she knew it was nothing like what she felt for Jack Snyder and she hated it. Still she had to keep up appearances because she couldn’t allow him to see that he’d crushed her completely by deciding to return to his ex-wife.  
  
“What are you doing here?” she questioned wearily. “We’re closed.”  
  
“Yeah, I kind of saw the sign on the door,” he motioned to the glass door behind him before pushing his hands into his jean pockets nervously, “but I figured I would take a chance that you might still be around. The door was unlocked and…”  
  
“I thought I locked it before I started cleaning for the night,” she frowned looking down to the counter she’d just cleaned up as she pretended she’d missed a spot. She turned to the sink seeking out the towel again.  
  
“Yeah, you should be really careful about that because you never know what kind of madman with a gun might step inside when you aren’t expecting it,” Jack cleared his throat uneasily as his dark eyes lingered to her once again.  
  
“I’m tough. I know how to take care of myself,” she replied stiffly wiping at the counter once again. “I’ve done it for years long before I had my own personal police escort so to speak.”  
  
“I know that, but maybe I don’t like the idea of you being here by yourself at night open for any kind of person to come around and cause trouble,” he stepped forward as his eyes continued to watch her intently.  
  
“It’s Oakdale,” she threw the towel down on the counter and forced herself to meet his concerned features. “I‘m sure I‘ll be more than fine.”  
  
Big mistake, she thought to herself as she wished she hadn’t found it in her to look at him. It would be so much easier if she’d played it cool and not found herself longing to fall into his arms. It would be less of a heartbreak if she didn’t find herself lost in the intensity of his beautiful brown eyes as he confessed to her that he and Carly decided that their on and off again relationship was back on. It would be so simple to pretend that she was happy for him if he couldn’t see her, but now that they stood face to face only separated by a counter, she feared that he would realize just how heartbroken she was at the thought of losing him.  
  
“Janet, we need to talk,” Jack began clearing his throat again.  
  
“Save it Jack,” Janet finally sighed accepting the fate of their relationship as she placed her palms flat on the countertop, “I already know what you have to say to me.”  
  
“You do?” he replied with confusion behind his eyes.  
  
She nodded, “Yeah and I guess this is the part where I tell you it’s been fun, but I understand the message you’ve been trying to convey to me loud and clear over the last couple of weeks.”  
  
“Have I been that obvious?” Jack’s eyes widened with surprise.  
  
“Yeah, um I think I picked up on it the other night when you left,” she nodded. “After the phone calls and the excuses you made for leaving, yep, I’m pretty sure I know where this is headed.”  
  
“And here I thought I was being careful about everything so that you wouldn’t see what was going on,” Jack let out a small laugh. “I guess for being a cop I’m not too good on the whole down low aspect of sneaking around.”  
  
“Not even remotely close to being good at it,” Janet turned around to leave, but thought twice of it as her anger and frustration got the best of her. “Though I’ll have you know Jack Snyder that even though you think you’re smart, you’re making a huge mistake.”  
  
“I am?” Jack frowned tipping his head to the side as her dark eyes shot daggers at him. “Why do you say that?”  
  
“Because it’s the truth. If you really think about it, and yeah, maybe it’s not my place to be telling you this, but you and your ex have had more ups and downs than anyone else I know. You were absolutely miserable and couldn’t just take the time to sit back and enjoy life when I first met you. You wouldn’t lighten up until I forced you to become more of a yes man and it was working for us Snyder. We really had a chemistry and a connection, but I guess you’re just the type that prefers to be miserable in his life,” she placed her hands on her hips before a scowl touched over her lips. “You’d rather return to what you already know then to take a chance on something new and different and…”  
  
“Janet, I don’t think you understand,” Jack opened his mouth to say something more as she waved her hands around in the air in a frenzy.  
  
“Oh I might not be a scholar or college educated, but I’m pretty smart about life Jack. I can see the obvious when it’s right in front of me, but I’ll have you know that you’re making a ridiculously mammoth mistake if you think for one second that your ex can make you as happy as I could’ve. I brought fun back to your life, not to mention some incredible tiramisu and laughter. I taught you to open up and I’m glad that she can get to see all of that now because you’ve decided you’re done with what we have, but hey I get it. I know that we weren’t really supposed to be serious and so what if you wound up leading me to think we had this connection. I knew it was about sex. I was well aware that was really all we agreed upon, but damn it Jack, why did you have to be so perfect? Why in the world did you wake up one morning and just decide that hey, you’d have fun with me and that we could just enter into something without there being any future for us?” Janet ranted, feeling her pulse quickening as she stomped around the counter to stand before him.  
  
“Actually you were the one that threw out the no strings sex Janet,” Jack clarified only adding fuel to her fire.  
  
“Yes, but you should know when women toss that out there they aren’t really meaning the words Jack. The want romance and love and want to be swept off of their feet,” she continued with a huff. “They don’t want you to just crawl out of bed the next morning and just pretend that they didn’t make a difference in your world.”  
  
“I never said anything even remotely close to that Janet considering that we’re living together,” Jack reminded her with a frown.  
  
“Only because you took pity on me after Bradley tried to force me out of town,” she reminded him.  
  
“That’s not the only reason why and you know it. In fact before you start jumping the gun on this heading off on a tangent that I‘m pretty sure we shouldn‘t be taking…,” Jack began with a frown as his lip curled with confusion.  
  
“I saw you and Carly together today Jack. I told myself I wouldn’t be jealous, but I put the pieces of the puzzle together and I see what’s in front of me. I know that you’re only here to try to let me down in a neutral place so that I won’t explode when…” Janet’s voice rose with each emotion pouring out behind her words.  
  
“When you’re wrong,” Jack blurted out with a frown. “Dead wrong.”  
  
“You’re right I was dead wrong to believe that I could actually have some kind of future with someone like you when,” Janet huffed ready to say something more as Jack moved forward, pulling her into his arms and caging her against the counter.   
  
Before she could complete her statement, she felt him slam her up against the counter, his lips coming crashing down over hers in a frenzied union. At first, her anger urged her to protest, but the warmth of his arms and the sweetness of his lips sparked an altogether different reaction from her. It was the same way she felt each and every time that they were together. In kissing him, she knew she was only setting herself up for further heartbreak, but as her arms eased around his powerful shoulders, she couldn’t help but find herself falling faster with each passing second. Finally breathless, she felt him pull back just enough to search her dark eyes.  
  
“Do you ever think you’ll have it in you to let me have a moment to speak my mind?” Jack questioned lazily, his fingers sliding into her soft, dark hair as his lips curved upward in a half smirk.  
  
“Jack, don’t think that kissing me will…” she began again only to feel him let out a small laugh over her.  
  
“Apparently not, but let’s work on changing that,” Jack decided dipping forward to kiss her again, this time making no mistake about his intentions as he hoisted her up onto the countertop. He stepped forward, urging her arms around him as their kisses grew in intensity bringing forth all the memories of the passion and sensuality that were purely Jack Snyder. Yes, so maybe he’d never been so spontaneous with her, but she’d asked it of him in the past. Now he was delivering and with their impending breakup around the corner, Janet couldn’t help but think about how Carly would be the one savoring his kisses--appreciating his attention and in that moment her heart sank.  
  
“Jack don’t,” she muttered pulling away from their kiss as her sad eyes appealed to him, “please don’t make me fall in love with you all over again only to tell me it’s over.”  
  
“Over?” Jack repeated with a line of tension creasing over his brow. “Why in the world would you think it’s over between us?”  
  
“Because I saw you and Carly together and I know you’re reuniting,” she explained pushing her palms into his shoulders to force a distance between them. “I know you’ve been going to see her and…”  
  
Jack couldn’t help but laugh, “That’s why you’re upset?”  
  
“Don’t mock me,” she frowned swatting at his chest while watching his laughter continue as he stepped back.  
  
“I’m sorry. It’s not funny Janet, but you really think that…” Jack paused seeing the hurt on her features.  
  
“I know what’s right in front of my eyes Jack. I figured out your sneaky little secret and I‘m not going to wait around for you to break my heart, which by the way is a very cruel thing to do considering that I care about you,” she began watching him reach into his pocket as another thought carried over her. “Oh please don’t tell me that you’re even bringing eviction papers from the farm because last I thought it was your Aunt’s place and…”  
  
“It’s nothing like that. In fact,” Jack pulled out a small jewelry box with a small sigh, “I had this whole picnic planned out complete with fireworks that I paid a small fortune to have brought into town right about now, which is a violation of the city ordinances this time of year, but I was hoping to make tonight perfect.”  
  
“Oh God, you’re going to propose to Carly again, aren’t you?” Janet felt as if the wind was kicked out of her at the thought. “Of course you are. I mean the writing is on the wall and has been for a while, but…”  
  
“No Janet,” Jack opened up the box to reveal the diamond ring within, “I was going to propose to you, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait for you to stop dumping me before I can get to that.”  
  
“Wait, what?” Janet’s brown eyes widened. “But I saw you with Carly today and…”  
  
“I told her my intentions,” Jack explained with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I felt she had a right to know considering that she is the mother of my children. I needed to see her and let her hear it from me first hand that I was planning on moving forward with my life finally.”  
  
“You mean that…” Janet’s jaw dropped as she found herself at a loss. “Are you saying that you and she aren’t…?”  
  
“Getting back together?” he finished for her. “Nope, not even if you decide that you’re still ready to skip town and forget about what we have together without so much as letting me tell you how I really feel about us.”  
  
“Then you’re saying that,” Janet looked down at the ring box again, seeing the diamond sparkle even through the darkness of the empty diner. She brought her hand over her forehead and felt lightheaded, “I think I’m going to faint.”  
  
“I’ve got you,” Jack stepped forward reaching out to catch her as her legs grew weak.  
  
“You really do, don’t you Snyder?” she asked breathlessly as their eyes connected.  
  
“I’ll never let you fall Ciccone,” he confessed reaching out to slide his fingers through her long, dark hair.  
  
“It’s too late,” she whispered, feeling her lower lip trembling as she searched his dark eyes, “because I already have--for you Snyder.”  
  
“Then why not throw caution to the wind and say that you’ll be mine this time with plenty of strings, lots of home cooking, tiramisu and only the best of the worst eighties music with laughter. Lots of laughter,” he suggested pulling her in closer to him, a sudden seriousness overtaking him as he held her. “So what do you say Ciccone? Will you marry me?”  
  
“Well, I don’t know. I mean I’ve had only about half a dozen other offers that don’t include life on a farm and milking cows and…” she teased only to feel his mouth over hers kissing her as if he’d never stop. She sighed opening herself further into the kiss while her arms wrapped around his shoulders, “Yes.”  
  
“Yes?” he questioned lazily as their lips parted a fraction of an inch.  
  
“Yes, yes, yes,” she repeated over and over again, holding him tighter as she realized that for the first time in her life she was glad that her intuitions were completely off. For the first moment ever, it felt absolutely glorious to be wrong about Jack. In fact, she was ready to go a step further and spend the rest of her life discovering all the reasons why she and Jack Snyder were completely right for one another all over again.


End file.
